THE BRIGHT SIDE

Decide to be happy today, to live with what is yours – your family, your business, your job, your luck. If you can’t have what you like, maybe you can like what you have.

Just for today, be kind, cheerful, agreeable, responsive, caring, and understanding. Be your best, dress your best, talk softly, and look for the bright side of things. Praise people for what they do and do not criticize them for what they cannot do. If someone does something stupid, forgive and forget. After all, it’s just for one day.

Who knows, it might turn out to be a nice day.

Always think on the bright side--no matter what life brings to your day. You'll gain a treasure within your soul that no worry or hardship can ever take away. Isaac Purcell

RECIPES AND CRAFTS

The labels shown below will take you to posts with recipes and a few craft ideas that I've included in my daily entries.

Followers

THE BRIGHT SIDE

I'm looking out the windowand the day is drab and dreary,And I'm trying to console myselfby thinking something cheeryI know it's simply horribleto get in such a slumpAnd I also know it's up to me to get across the humpAnd I realize I'm selfishto mention this to youFor, gee, you might be feelinga little 'low-down' toobut often when I feel like thisI tell myself it's trueThat I am not the only onewho feels 'low-down and blue'And just knowing there are otherswho feel the way I doRenews my sinking spirit and keeps me smiling throughand know that it's naturalto take a 'spirit-dive'Provides the spunk and courageto hang on and surviveAnd while there are a lot of moodsthat we can drive awayby looking on the BRIGHT SIDEin all we do and say,There also is a lonelinessthat God meant us to feelBut, gee, it sure is mighty hardto know which one is realAnd I'd hate to be a 'sad sack'who never saw the sunAnd just complained that every daywas such a dreary one.But I know that all the dark daysare just part of God's planWe should accept them graciouslyand do the best we can...So I'll just keep on tryingfor I know it's 'Gospel true'there never was a cloud so darkthe sun could not shine through!by Helen Steiner Rice

On the Bright Side Newsletter

I send this little letter out each morning to all my family and friends and even to a few people that I've never met. Many of them send it on to others too. So in order to make it available to more people I post the 'brighter side' of the news here each day in this journal. The letter began as an effort to keep in touch with my family as they are spread out in all directions. My family, friends and God are the most important things in my life.You'll find quotes, poems and stories and even a few recipes included in this newsletter. I try to find something new each day to share. In a world that very often publishes only the dark side of things I felt that others would be encouraged to hear about 'the bright side'.'On Ya'-ma

Award from Aging Disgracefully

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE

The comfortable and comforting people are those who look upon the bright side of life; gathering its roses and sunshine and makingthe most that happens seem the best.Dorothy Dix

About Me

Monday, July 24, 2017

For Monday, July 24th, 2017

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

The moments of our lives may be bright with possibility, dark with fear or sadness, or even plain everyday gray, but God's glory never fades. May God's glory shine into the exciting lights, upsetting darks, and boring grays of your every day.

MONDAY, JULY 24TH, 2017

60 DAYS UNTIL FALL

Sunrise: 6:16 am

Sunset: 8:53 pm

Life is a Special Occasion!

Hallmark

Today is Cousin's Day which honors your Aunt and Uncle's kids. They are those great kids who are likely close to your age, and endure the countless family get togethers with you. If it wasn't for cousins, these family events wouldn’t be half as much fun.

This is a great day for your cousins. Now, hold on a minute. If you have cousins, that means your cousins have cousins. And, that's you! Therefore, today is your day,too.

Cousins: Childhood play mates who grow up to be forever friends.

If you can't see the Bright Side, polish the dull side

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Cousins are friends that will love you forever. Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the cousins together. In my cousin, I find a second self. A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.

Wise Saying

The very first picture today shows my family at a reunion we a few years ago now. Of course all my grandchildren are cousins to each other.

I have a lot of cousins myself as each of my parents came from a family of ten, so I had lots of aunts and uncles and they in turn had lots of children too. Last count I had over 30 cousins. I lost track of exactly how many somewhere along the way. Some I still keep in contact with, but I’m thankful for all of them. We shared some happy days in our childhood when our families would get together. Some were much younger than I was, some older. I even have a couple of aunts that seemed more like cousins because they were closer to my age.

Being a part of a large extended family was probably the reason I had a large family myself. The rest of the pictures are from this past Easter, which was the last time our family got together for a holiday celebration. The cousins had lots of fun together. Hopefully they’ll remember always the fun times just as I remember my own.

I hope you all have a GREAT start to this new week. Happy Monday!

WHAT’S NEW IN THE KITCHEN

There is a food holiday to celebrate every day of the year!

It's Drive Thru Day which encourages you to live on the wild side. Forget about buying locally sourced produce, organic vegetables, and getting your five a day; sometimes you don’t have the time or energy to cook good, nutritious food from scratch, and on Drive Thru Day you can take a short cut without feeling guilty

We have a great selection of Drive Thru foods here in our area. Many make use of them regularly.

The most popular are ones that serve burgers and today’s recipe is how to make your own Big Mac yourself. This recipe serves 3.

Homemade Big Macs

Ground beef

Onion powder

Salt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsps. mustard

1 tsp. ketchup

1 Tbsp. minced onion

4 tsps. relish

1 tsp. sugar

tsp. salt

6 slices American cheese

Lettuce, chopped finely

Pickles

9 sesame seed burger buns

Season beef with salt and onion powder, and pound with a rolling pin. Flatten beef out on a flat surface, and use a cookie cutter to cut out beef patties.

Season patties, and cook in pan for a few minutes on each side. Drain and set aside.

To make the Special Sauce, combine mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, minced onion, relish, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir well.

2 comments:

Lots of great pictures of cousins! My mom came from a family of 10 too; I have a few cousins I haven't even met. I don't keep up with any that I did know, but my sister does and she'll pass on family info about them.

I never tire of seeing these smiling faces, Ma! They're so fortunate to have one another!

My dad had few siblings and mother, none. As a result - and due to geographical challenges - I never really knew my cousins. Tom, on the other hand, grew up in a large extended Polish family (in south Chicago) and still enjoys a great relationship with his cousins.